A centralized community resource center in New Haven, Connecticut, is bringing essential support services together in a renovated three-story facility designed to improve access for people experiencing homelessness and poverty. STV provided owner’s project management services to help the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK) deliver the approximately $4.2 million project.
Located at 266 State Street, the facility combines meal services, health care support, case management, showers, laundry facilities and outreach programs. The project provides DESK with a permanent location for its expanding operations while creating a coordinated point of access for people seeking assistance.
STV’s program and construction management team supported DESK from preconstruction through occupancy, overseeing project accounting, budgeting, grant administration and day-to-day coordination. The work required collaboration among DESK, architects, contractors, funding agencies and community stakeholders.
The project’s funding combined federal, state, local and private sources, each with distinct reporting, reimbursement and compliance requirements. STV helped manage payment reviews, reimbursement documentation, project reporting and financial oversight alongside construction coordination and change management.
The team also addressed historic preservation considerations, health care-related requirements and the operational needs of the people who would use the center. Coordinating these priorities was essential to delivering a facility that could accommodate multiple services while meeting the organization’s financial and operational objectives.
The owner-side management approach gave DESK greater visibility into project costs, funding obligations and delivery decisions. It also helped align the work of project partners with the nonprofit’s long-term service goals.
The new DESK Drop-in and Resource Center brings a commercial kitchen, medical and health-related spaces, case management offices, gathering areas, shower and laundry facilities, and administrative functions into one location.
Consolidating these services is intended to make support easier to access while helping DESK coordinate its programs and manage daily operations more efficiently. The facility also provides infrastructure for the organization to sustain and develop its services over time.
The project received first place in the Small Civic category from the Connecticut Building Congress, which also named the team its 2026 Project Team of the Year. The project additionally received a Community Impact Award from the Connecticut chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
The DESK project demonstrates how owner’s project management can support nonprofit and community-focused development, particularly when projects combine multiple funding sources with complex operational requirements.
For owners and developers delivering civic and social-service facilities, coordinated financial oversight, grant administration, stakeholder communication and construction management can help keep project execution aligned with funding conditions and the needs of future occupants. The New Haven center illustrates how renovation projects can create more functional community infrastructure by bringing essential services together in a single facility.
Source: STV.
